Paul Evangelizes in Rome

Scriptures: Acts 28:23-31

By the end of this lesson, we will:

*Summarize the points of Paul’s Gospel message; *Be confident in our ability to use scripture to bring others to knowledge of Christ;

*Identify ways we can tell resistant listeners about Christ.

Background: Paul finally arrives in Rome where he is allowed his own residence at the provisional favor of God working through Porcius Festus and Julius the centurion. Paul’s plan is to speak to his fellow Jews and get them on his side. He knew that all of what was happening to him was a part of his calling to share the Good News with the world. Now an assigned time was fixed to begin evangelism in Rome, first to the Jews, then the Gentiles.

Lesson: Paul Shares the Gospel with the Jews (Acts 28:23-25a). Paul had persuaded them to come with their friends to meet with him again by informing them that his whole situation was because of the Hope of Israel –(resurrection), he invoked theology. Verse 23 describes the interchange of Paul and his guests. “… he expounded and testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, …” (verse 23a.). Paul didn’t just use his extensive knowledge of the scriptures, but he included his personal testimony – of his encounter with Jesus. “… both out of the Law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening (verse 23b.). Paul’s method of Jewish evangelism was to interpret Old Testament anticipation of the Messiah to convince them that Jesus is the Messiah. You might imagine that conversation being lengthy. Verses 24 and 25 are an observation that there were believers and non-believers at the evening’s end. But before they parted, Paul invoked the Holy Spirit and the prophet Isaiah.

The Jews Turn Away (verses 25b-27). Paul has a Holy Spirit déjà vu – Paul says to them that they were acting just like their ancestors did when they didn’t listen to the prophet (Isaiah 6:9-10). Quoting Isaiah to make the point that just as their ancestors failed to take advantage of the proffered salvation – they were now being just as foolish. They failed to believe the Word of God – even though Paul had shown them that the scriptures all pointed to Jesus as the Messiah.

Paul Preaches to the Gentiles (verses 28-31). “Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it (verses 28). The Message says it this way – “You’ve had your chance. The non-Jewish outsiders are next on the list. And believe me, they’re going to receive it with open arms.” Paul was embracing his apostleship to the Gentiles and the Old Testament. Isaiah had also predicted that in the end times Gentiles would join Jews at Jerusalem to worship God (Isaiah 66:19-24). Paul’s reference to the Gentiles’ inclusion in verse 19 got the Jews thinking as they left. Not deterred, “Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house … (verse 30) … preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him” (verse 31). At what seems to be at his own expense and still under house arrest, Paul, with an open-door policy, freely received visitors and spoke with them about the Gospel. Paul’s circumstances in Rome encouraged Christians to become bolder in witnessing to the faith is evidenced in the Book of Romans. (UMI Annual Commentary 2021-2022, The MacArthur Study Bible, The Modern Life Study Bible, The Tony Evans Study Bible, The Message //Remix: Pause, The Wiersbe Study Bible, The New Interpreters Study Bible, and The Oxford Bible Commentary).

BY JESSE JACKSON SR.

In the bloody summer of 1863, the Union Army defeated General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate forces at Gettysburg, a three-day battle that changed the course of the Civil War and the long journey from slavery to freedom.

Three months later, in a profound gesture of gratitude, President Abraham Lincoln officially proclaimed the fourth Thursday of November to be a national holiday, a national day of thanksgiving.

The Union would hold. The peo- nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People.”

Thanksgiving has always been about more than football and turkey. It is about justice and the creation of a more perfect union. It has always been political.

Poverty and hunger are enemies of the union. They are homegrown terrorists, traitors to the America we can and must become. They have no ple would be free.

We have much work to do. There are nine neighborhoods in Chicago – endangered communities – where poverty is at almost 20 percent and unemployment hovers around 40 percent.

That is a sin.

There are an estimated 13.1 million children – 1 in 6 – in the U.S. living in households where there is not enough to eat. Experts say that children who suffer from hunger in the first years of their education often lag behind their peers in school, a beginning that can haunt them for the rest of their lives.

“No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things,” the proclamation read. “They are gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath place in a nation as rich, powerful and fundamentally good as ours.

In the true spirit of Thanksgiving, this is a time not to focus on one big meal on one big day. This is a time to commit and work even harder to end poverty and hunger in this land of plenty.

The moral burden of Thanksgiving is not to eat turkey but to feed justice.

Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. is founder and president of the Chicago-based Rainbow PUSH Coalition. You can keep up with his work at www.rainbowpush.org.